A Mean Tongue and Codeine

Chapter 2

"Oh my GOD!" Laurens shrill screech echoed through the apartment, pulling Maia out of what used to be a peaceful slumber. "You total SLUT!" Lauren threw the door open, hair and eyes wild as she scanned the room.

Maia lifted her head off the pillow and rubbed her eyes. "What in Christ's name are you screaming about? And why couldn't it wait until I woke up?"

"Where is he?" Lauren opened her closet and ruffled some clothes around before whirling back to her. "Where is Hozier? Don't you dare lie to me, Maia Stephens!"

Maia let her head fall back on the pillow with a dramatic groan. "What the fuck is a Hozier?" She reached for her phone to check the time – and almost dropped it on her face. "Holy....what is happening."

Lauren stopped her search and plopped down on the bed next to her. "He's not here? I thought you two hit it off last night?"

"Who? Me and...Andrew? We had one kiss at midnight, it's nothing, but did you see my Instagram? I think I got posted somewhere, look at all these new followers!" Maia stumbled over her words in her excitement.
"God, you're clueless," Lauren snatched the phone from Maia and typed a few things in. She handed the phone back, open to a profile of some singer on stage, and an album announcement, and more stage pictures. "He," Lauren gestured wildly to the phone, "Followed you last night. People took notice."

"Oh my God," Maia whispered, scrolling through the never-ending performance photos. Not just some guy, she realized with a sudden drop in her heart. "Is...Andrew is the Take Me to Church guy?"

"You seriously didn't know?" Lauren squealed as she lightly hit Maia with a pillow who was too shell-shocked to even notice. "I figured that's why you were actually being nice to him." Lauren looked at her own phone, now ringing with the sound of an incoming call.

"Hey girl, no it's not true. I mean he followed her but nothing happened," She held up one finger to Maia and whispered, "send me those pictures from last night," before hurrying out of the room. "I don't know about never but definitely not right now!" Her voice faded through the hallways and went silent with the click of her bedroom door.

Maia's head spun, unable to comprehend the amount of likes and comments that appeared on her photos – literally – overnight. She scrolled through some of the comments and felt a pang of disappointment. Almost none of them were about her actual photography. They were filled with people – strangers – questioning her relationship to Hozier. One commenter even complained that the last photo Maia had uploaded of herself was 4 years ago.

She clicked the DM tab and found 50+ message requests. A quick scroll showed they were mostly from trash internet magazines asking for the "inside scoop of everyone's favorite Irish hottie." Her heart dropped even further into her stomach when she found a message from the man of the hour, blue check mark and everything.

"It's Andrew, I followed you on the wrong account, I thought I was logged in on my personal. Can you follow this one? I'm so sorry."

Maia clicked the link to his secret, "personal" Instagram account. The name listed was AHB, was private, and only had about 200 followers. Her hands quaked as she hovered over the follow button. What was she getting herself into?

"Yeah you're right, she probably already sent him a novel saying to never contact her again!" Laurens voice reappeared in the hallway.

Shame filled Maia's chest, turning her hands and feet into blocks of ice. Sure, she could have a bit of a temper on occasion, but was it so bad people joked about it behind her back? Shaking her head slightly, she turned her attention back to the phone and pressed the follow button. Maia went back to the original DM and typed a quick response.